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Ars Technica Holiday Gift Guide 2009

It's almost that time of year again—snow is falling, turkey day is fast …

Geeks, technophiles, early adopters, giant nerds—these are hard people to shop for, because by definition they're always more up on the latest and greatest than their peers. That's why every year at Christmas time, loved ones and significant others struggle to find gifts for that special geek that fit the following three criteria: 1) they want it, 2) they don't already have it, and 3) it won't break the bank if you buy it for them. And, every year, the Ars Technica Holiday Gift Guide is here to help.

Most tech-oriented gift guides are filled with gadgets and gear that only meet criterion #1 above—truth be told, we at Ars have written a few guides that fit this description in the past. That's why with our 2009 guide, we put our heads together and came up with an assortment of gift ideas that, for the most part, should fit all three criteria for the nerd in your life. We asked ourselves not "what is the top X or Y of 2008?", or "what should everyone have at least one of?", but "what is it that we've come across in the past year that we actually wanted, for whatever crazy reason?" We then threw all of the suggestions in a giant pile, and sorted them into some basic groups.

We admit that this process produced a list with a few super-random items in in it—ninja star coat hooks, a chess set that you hang on your wall, a wand-shaped remote that lets you go all Harry Potter on your entertainment system—but we challenge you to find another guide this year that contains more items that you'll actually want to buy, either for a loved one or for yourself.

So take a look through the Holiday Gift Guide 2009, and keep the plastic handy, because you won't find a more entertaining, geek-appropriate collection of gift ideas this holiday season.

36 Reader Comments

Sweet! I bought one of those metal robot clocks about 6 years ago for a friends birthday. I wanted to get one myself but the guy in the little watch stand I bought it from told me it was a one off and couldn't order more, I hadn't seen it again since. Ars, you made my day.

What's with the Canon camera love though, 3 out of 4? The new micro-4/3rds cameras are some of the sexiest little cameras this side of hubble, the G11 has the same ol' 1/1.7" sensor in it that all compacts seem to have these days.

I would recommend a Dingoo A320 over the GP2X Wiz. The A320 has better controls, better emulation (less choppy), and is about half the price. To be fair, the Wiz does have a few more emulators and probably has better support/expandability from the manufacturer, but that doesn't make up for the price/performance difference. Also, the A30's included games, despite all expectations to the contrary, are surprisingly good.

The only books you recommend are anti-copyright manifestos? (I'm not going to count comic books.) Historical treatises of which the title says (almost) everything? Talk about acquired taste... It would be especially apt if they were free. But the authors decided not to "innovate", and to charge for their "content" served in an obsolete medium.

The topics might make interesting reading, but I have a suspicion that the books do not really compare different viewpoints or serve up different interpretations of events. If some of your friends have nodded their heads and said that you make "a good point" when you have talked to them about copyright, I have a suspicion that giving either of these books as a gift might be enough to make them ask "but seriously, what's wrong with him?"

Great guide guys. Several things I was not aware of, but look cool. I'm a selfish jerk though and want most of this for myself, so I'll be giving cheaper and lamer gifts

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Originally posted by random_name:The topics might make interesting reading, but I have a suspicion that the books do not really compare different viewpoints or serve up different interpretations of events.

So you're offering your review of books you've never read? Do you even know who Patry is?

Originally posted by njpoz:Oh man, I do not need to lust after more expensive gear I don't need, but I desire that Saddleback duffle bag. Too bad I don't know anyone who would buy me a $600 piece of luggage, or a $600 anything.

As far as cameras go, I'd suggest the Panasonic Lumix line if you want something in between. For $200-300, you can usually get something like 10 megapixels and a 10x optical zoom. I've been thrilled with the Lumix I got two years ago, and I can only imagine they've gotten better since then.

So ... criterion #3 is that the gifts won't break the bank, and we get a $900 coffee maker, $850 watch, and $500+ duffel bag? Not complaining, I just find it amusing how out of proportion those were ... most of the gifts here are very good and interesting ideas.

Although personally, I could never buy or own that math clock -- because 3 * (pi - 0.14) is NOT 9. Am I alone in this?

So ... criterion #3 is that the gifts won't break the bank, and we get a $900 coffee maker, $850 watch, and $500+ duffel bag?

You forgot the $2k wall clock.

Every time one of these lists come out, I stare at it and wonder what definition of geek people are using. Spending a bunch of dollars on a pricey commercial package does not make you a geek; collecting a ton of old hardware because you "might need it someday" puts you in that category. Other than the games, I did not see much to enjoy. If that makes me less of a geek, so be it.

Originally posted by random_name:The topics might make interesting reading, but I have a suspicion that the books do not really compare different viewpoints or serve up different interpretations of events.

So you're offering your review of books you've never read? Do you even know who Patry is?

Well, I made my conclusions based on (my recollections of) the Ars review of the book (Big Content: Using "moral panics" to change copyright law). If the book in fact is more balanced than what I gathered from that article, well, then Ars could have done a better job in the review. Nevertheless, often people who have the energy to write long treatises on some matter are very passionate about it, and just about equally often myopic about it. You wouldn't ask a priest for an unbiased opinion about religion (nor the head of some society of freethinkers, for that matter), or a researcher in feminist studies about how "scientific" it is.

"And, as we noted at the beginning, the tone here gets so one-sided at points that all but the most hardened copyfighter will probably set the book down at some passages, scratch the chin, and ask, "Really?""

Or maybe it is all the other articles here on Ars, where books are referenced as seen fit, to further a certain interpretation (cf. 100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words).

Well, I made my conclusions based on (my recollections of) the Ars review of the book (Big Content: Using "moral panics" to change copyright law). If the book in fact is more balanced than what I gathered from that article, well, then Ars could have done a better job in the review. Nevertheless, often people who have the energy to write long treatises on some matter are very passionate about it, and just about equally often myopic about it. You wouldn't ask a priest for an unbiased opinion about religion (nor the head of some society of freethinkers, for that matter), or a researcher in feminist studies about how "scientific" it is.

As my review said, the book is very one-sided and occasionally screed-like; that doesn't mean there's not a good chunk of profitable material in it. The basic discussions of metaphor, moral panics, and the nature innovation were all quite good.

Originally posted by Jawbox:Not to mention an entire section for the iPhone...

Yeah, there are no accessories or applications that were 'geek worthy' that worked on other mobile/smart phones?

There are tons of great apps that have versions that work on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and even Windows Mobile (gasp!) There are also some pretty amazing applications that don't work on the iPhone at all.

At least consider some of the accessories. I'm pretty sure that Jawbone headset works on any BT enabled phone, and Arkon makes great mounts for several devices (and specific mounts, not just generic ones.)

Would it have been so hard to call that section the Mobile Phone section?

I for one don't jump on the 'ARS staff are Apple whores' but that just makes it that much more difficult to say otherwise (it also doesn't help when a good chunk of the PC accessories were Apple specific as well.) It's your site and your article though, just my feedback.

Now I'm sure the Ars staff is laughing 'see I knew someone would fall for that!!! fool!'

Originally posted by Jawbox:Not to mention an entire section for the iPhone...

Yeah, there are no accessories or applications that were 'geek worthy' that worked on other mobile/smart phones?

There are tons of great apps that have versions that work on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and even Windows Mobile (gasp!) There are also some pretty amazing applications that don't work on the iPhone at all.

At least consider some of the accessories. I'm pretty sure that Jawbone headset works on any BT enabled phone, and Arkon makes great mounts for several devices (and specific mounts, not just generic ones.)

Would it have been so hard to call that section the Mobile Phone section?

I for one don't jump on the 'ARS staff are Apple whores' but that just makes it that much more difficult to say otherwise (it also doesn't help when a good chunk of the PC accessories were Apple specific as well.) It's your site and your article though, just my feedback.

Now I'm sure the Ars staff is laughing 'see I knew someone would fall for that!!! fool!'

Same here. The iPhone section was a skip for me, and I damn near skipped the whole article because of it.

Then again, Ars devotes an entire section to (cr)Apple (I kid because I care), so it kind of makes sense.

Originally posted by ronelson:Every time one of these lists come out, I stare at it and wonder what definition of geek people are using. Spending a bunch of dollars on a pricey commercial package does not make you a geek; collecting a ton of old hardware because you "might need it someday" puts you in that category. Other than the games, I did not see much to enjoy. If that makes me less of a geek, so be it.

There definitely are different types of geeks. I'm something of a math geek, so I find the clock unacceptable. I don't collect tons of old hardware so I don't fit in the same category as you on that point. I don't even own a smart phone, and that entire category of device doesn't even interest me. And while I enjoy coffee, I'm not enough of a coffee geek to want a $900 coffee machine, but I'm sure there are some who would accept nothing less. And so on. I think that trying to produce a gift guide for geeks is a losing battle from the outset, but I think they gave it a decent attempt.

Originally posted by robrob:Sweet! I bought one of those metal robot clocks about 6 years ago for a friends birthday. I wanted to get one myself but the guy in the little watch stand I bought it from told me it was a one off and couldn't order more, I hadn't seen it again since. Ars, you made my day.

What's with the Canon camera love though, 3 out of 4? The new micro-4/3rds cameras are some of the sexiest little cameras this side of hubble, the G11 has the same ol' 1/1.7" sensor in it that all compacts seem to have these days.

I think the Micro 4/3 cameras are pretty darn interesting, but none of them fit suitably into the categories we defined for picking cameras. I wanted to find an inexpensive point and shoot, then one that could be considered at the top end of point and shoots. I also wanted to make a recommendation for an entry-level DSLR, and we also wanted to have a higher-end recommendation as well. Micro 4/3 cameras like the Olympus EP-1 or the Panasonic models are a little pricey and add additional bulk and complexity over the G11, for instance. They are a compromise between a P/S and SLR, and users looking for something like that in a gift have probably already spelled that out specifically in their wish lists.

There are certainly other camera brands we could recommend—I had considered recommending the Panasonic Lumix LX-3 over the Canon G11, for instance. But at this point in time, these are the cameras that most captured what we felt was important at each price point we considered: under $200 and around $500 in P/S, and $500 and $1000 in DSLR.

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Originally posted by Greenwizard88:Are there any cameras for sale that fall between $120 and $500? Surely there's something!

There are tons of cameras, of course. $129 is basically the low-end, while $500 or so is typically the high-end for point and shoots. There are definitely some super-zoom models or outliers like Leica cameras, but we could arbitrarily define price points or camera categories all day to the point where our recommendations would boil down to "it depends."

I think our choices are good for the average person looking for a simple answer, and I think we did a good job of explaining the reasoning behind our choices.

And to anyone looking at netbooks, the build quality of the Samsung NC10 still impresses me, especially after playing with my parents' (yes, each bought one) Asus Eee 1000HEs. I've owned an NC10 for a little shy of a year and never been disappointed.

Originally posted by robrob:Sweet! I bought one of those metal robot clocks about 6 years ago for a friends birthday. I wanted to get one myself but the guy in the little watch stand I bought it from told me it was a one off and couldn't order more, I hadn't seen it again since. Ars, you made my day.

What's with the Canon camera love though, 3 out of 4? The new micro-4/3rds cameras are some of the sexiest little cameras this side of hubble, the G11 has the same ol' 1/1.7" sensor in it that all compacts seem to have these days.

I think the Micro 4/3 cameras are pretty darn interesting, but none of them fit suitably into the categories we defined for picking cameras. I wanted to find an inexpensive point and shoot, then one that could be considered at the top end of point and shoots. I also wanted to make a recommendation for an entry-level DSLR, and we also wanted to have a higher-end recommendation as well. Micro 4/3 cameras like the Olympus EP-1 or the Panasonic models are a little pricey and add additional bulk and complexity over the G11, for instance. They are a compromise between a P/S and SLR, and users looking for something like that in a gift have probably already spelled that out specifically in their wish lists.

There are certainly other camera brands we could recommend—I had considered recommending the Panasonic Lumix LX-3 over the Canon G11, for instance. But at this point in time, these are the cameras that most captured what we felt was important at each price point we considered: under $200 and around $500 in P/S, and $500 and $1000 in DSLR.

Fair enough reasoning. The G11 seems an odd one out still, most people who buy a point and shoot want something that'll fit in their pocket, the G11 means you have to have pretty big pockets and it doesn't offer a whole lot of benefits for it's size.

On that criteria, the Canon S90 would be the better choice, basically a pocketable version of the G11 with a larger LCD on the back, a faster lens and a few dollars cheaper ($430). It loses out on the zoom, but zoom seems less important on a point and shoot. It's what I'd actually buy someone if I was buying just a high end camera, the G11 would fall into the criteria of a more personal choice.

But that's just me, I guess there's always going to be a load of opinions on whatever goes into this list

Re: Saddleback Leather duffel -- I can vouch for the quality of Saddleback's products. I've owned one of their large briefcases for a couple years now, and it is far and away the best luggage/storage type investment I've ever made. I've received innumerable compliments on its appearance and quality. The bag is very handsome, rugged, and as stated in the article, develops a nice patina with use.

Whenever my crappy nylon duffel wears out, I'll definitely have no problem ponying up the $$$ for the Saddleback duffel.

Aparently, the Acer is equiped with either the dual core Intel Celeron SU2300 (1.2GHz) or the Intel Celeron M 743(1.30GHz). So it's not a single core 1.2Ghz. The description needs to be updated and the next question -- Which is best?

The Macbook Pro extended battery is also full of win, and has swayed my purchasing desire in favor of a Macbook Pro now instead of the VAIO FW I was looking at for the longest time. Let's just hope that the new ones have like dual display port out for triple monitor goodness (What PC Notebooks have had for years) and I will sure buy one as soon as these are available (or the old model if the new ones are not any good).